Hello Dolly Bars
These bar cookies are also commonly called Seven Layer Bars, especially in the South. I knew them as Hello Dolly bars because that's what they were called at Magnolia Bakery fifteen plus years ago when I would occasionally get them as an after school snack. Whatever their proper name, they're easy as pie to make and incredibly delicious.
The base is a graham cracker crust. That's topped with a layer of chocolate chips and pecans, followed by lots of sweetened shredded coconut (don't think of going with unsweetened here, that's not the style of these bars.) The whole thing is drizzled with condensed milk.
A few tips: First, you can basically mix and match any kind of nut and chip that you like. Butterscotch chips? White chocolate chips? Add them right in. Like walnuts better than pecans? Go right ahead. I do find that slightly softer, fattier nuts (think pecans, walnuts, cashews) work better than harder ones like almonds or peanuts. Second, refrigerate the bars. One of the best parts of these bars is how, when you bite in, the condensed milk kind of oozes out of little pockets. But if you add that to melting chocolate, it becomes a gooey mess that's just as hard to eat as it is to cut.
All in all, given that these take about 5 minutes to throw together and 30 minutes to bake, I think we can all agree to call them our next afternoon snack.
Ingredients:
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 cups (about a 13 1/2 ounce box) graham cracker crumbs
- 2 cups (about 12 ounces) dark or semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups (about 8 ounces) pecans, roughly chopped
- 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut flakes
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk